Kerala Travel Guide

Kerala, a state on India’s tropical Malabar Coast, has nearly 600km of Arabian Sea shoreline. It’s known for its palm-lined beaches and backwaters, a network of canals. Inland are the Western Ghats, mountains whose slopes support tea, coffee and spice plantations as well as wildlife. National parks like Eravikulam and Periyar, plus Wayanad and other sanctuaries, are home to elephants, langur monkeys and tigers.

Seasons

Bestowed with a pleasant and equable climate throughout the year, Kerala is a tropical land with the coast running down its entire length and the Western Ghats forming a protective barrier against the dry winds from up north. The monsoons (June-September & October-November) and summer (February-May) are the seasons markedly experienced here, while winter is only a slight drop in temperature from the normal range of 28-32°C.

Kerala Travel Guide and Points of Interest

Thekkady

Thekkady is located about 257 km (160 mi) from Trivandrum, 114 km from Madurai City and Madurai Airport, 145 km from Cochin International Airport and 114 km from Kottayam railway station. Thekkady is located near to Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. The sanctuary is famous for its dense evergreen, semi-evergreen, moist deciduous forests and savanna grass lands. It is home to herds of elephants, sambar, tigers, gaur, lion-tailed macaques and Nilgiri langurs.

Muzhappilangad Beach

Muzhappilangad Beach is almost 5.5 km length long in the state of Kerala in southwestern India. It is located parallel to National Highway 66(formerly National Highway 17) between Thalassery and Kannur.

This beach is the longest Drive-In Beach in India and is featured among the top 6 best beaches for driving in the world in BBC article for Autos. Even though Goa has many beautiful beaches, it does not have a Drive-in beach.

Bekal Fort

Bekal Fort, is the largest fort in Kerala, situated at Bekal village in Kasaragod district, North Kerala and it is 67 km from Mangalore spreading over 40 acres.

The Mangrove Trail of Malabar is a day trippers visiting place about 45 km from Bakel. It is a coastal Jungle trail offering hiking, birding and boating.

An important features of this fort is the water-tank with its flight of steps. The fort has a tunnel opening towards the south and a magazine for keeping ammunition with broad steps leading to the Observation Tower.

Paradesi Synagogue

The synagogue is located in the quarter of Old Cochin known as Jew Town, and is the only one of the seven synagogues in the area still in use. The complex has four buildings. It was built adjacent to the Mattancherry Palace temple on the land given to the Malabari Yehuden or ” Yehuden Mappila” community by the Raja of Kochi, Rama Varma. The Mattancherry Palace temple and the Mattancherry synagogue share a common wall.

Periyar National Park

Periyar National Park, also known as Periyar Tiger Reserve, is in the mountainous Western Ghats of Kerala, southern India. This wildlife sanctuary is home to tigers and a significant elephant population, as well as rare lion-tailed macaques, sambar deer, leopards and Indian bison. In the park’s north, Periyar Lake is popular for boat rides. Farther north, spice plantations surround the town of Kumily.

Santa Cruz Cathedral Basilica

The Santa Cruz Cathedral Basilica at Fort Kochi is one of the eight Basilicas in Kerala. Counted as one of the heritage edifices of Kerala, this church is one of the finest and most impressive churches in India and visited by tourists the whole year round. It is a place of devotion as well as a center of historic significance, endowed with architectural and artistic grandeur and colours of the gothic style.

Padmanabhaswamy Temple

Padmanabhaswamy temple is located in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. The temple is built in an intricate fusion of the indigenous Kerala style and the Dravidian style of architecture associated with the temples located in the neighboring state of Tamil Nadu, featuring high walls, and a 16th-century Gopuram.

Fort Kochi

Fort Kochi is a region in the city of Kochi in the state of Kerala, India.[1] This is part of a handful of water-bound regions toward the south-west of the mainland Kochi, and collectively known as Old Kochi or West Kochi.

Eravikulam National Park

Eravikulam National Park is a 97 sq km national park located along the Western Ghats in the Idukki district of Kerala in India. It is the first national park in kerala.

The Kerala Department of Forests and Wildlife, Munnar Wildlife Division administer Eravikulam National Park. Eravikulam National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Vadakkunnathan Temple

Vadakkunnathan Temple is an ancient Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva at city of Thrissur, of Kerala state in India. This temple is a classic example of the architectural style of Kerala and has monumental towers on all four sides and also a kuttambalam.

Mattancherry Palace

The Mattancherry Palace is a Portuguese palace popularly known as the Dutch Palace, in Mattancherry, Kochi, in the Indian state of Kerala features Kerala murals depicting Hindu temple art, portraits and exhibits of the Rajas of Kochi.

Vembanad

Vembanad is the longest lake in India, and the largest lake in the state of Kerala. It is also counted as one of the largest lakes in India.

Thirunelli Temple

Thirunelli Temple is an ancient temple dedicated to Lord Maha Vishnu on the side of Brahmagiri hill in Kerala. The temple is at an altitude of about 900m in north Wayanad in a valley surrounded by mountains and beautiful forests.

Attukal Temple

The Attukal Bhagavathy Temple is a Hindu religious shrine at Attukal in Kerala, India. The Goddess Kannaki is the main deity in this temple.

Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary

Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary is situated at Kumarakom in Kottayam district in the Indian state of Kerala, on the banks of Vembanad Lake. Set in the Kerala Backwaters the bird sanctuary is a favourite haunt of migratory birds.

Edakkal Caves

Edakkal Caves are two natural caves at a remote location at Edakkal, 25 km from Kalpetta in the Wayanad district of Kerala in India’s Western Ghats.

Guruvayur Temple

Guruvayur Sri Krishna Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to the god Krishna, located in the town of Guruvayur in Kerala, India.

Anamudi

Anamudi or Anamudi is a mountain located in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the highest peak in the Western Ghats and South India, at an elevation of 2,695 metres, and a topographic prominence of 2,479 metres.

Periyar River

Periyar is the longest river and the river with the largest discharge potential in the Indian state of Kerala. It is one of the few perennial rivers in the region and provides drinking water for several major towns.

Napier Museum

The Napier Museum is an art and natural history museum situated in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala, India.

Cherai Beach

Cherai Beach is located in Kochi Taluk, Kerala, India. Cherai Beach is just 25 km from Kochi, and 30 km from Cochin International Airport. The nearest towns are North Paravur and Kodungallur and the nearest railway station is Aluva.

Hill Palace, Tripunithura

Hill Palace is the largest archaeological museum in Kerala, located at Tripunithura, Kochi, near Karingachira area. It was the Imperial Administrative offices and official residence of Cochin Maharaja.

Mannarasala Temple

Mannarasala Sree Nagaraja Temple is a very ancient and internationally known centre of pilgrimage for the devotees of serpent gods. The famous Nagaraja temple “Mannarasala” is nestled in a forest glade, like most snake temples.

Thrissur Zoo

Thrissur Zoo or State Museum & Zoo, Thrissur is a 13.5-acre zoo that opened in 1885 in the heart of Thrissur City, Kerala, India. It is one of the oldest zoos in the country, and is home to the wide variety of animals, reptiles, and birds.

Thiruvananthapuram Zoo

The Thiruvananthapuram Zoo is located in the city of Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala, India. It occupies 55 acres of woodland, lakes, and lawns. It is the oldest zoo in India and Asia.

Varkala Beach

Varkala Beach, also known as Papanasham Beach is a beach in Varkala, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India, along the Arabian Sea, part of the Indian Ocean. The word Papanasham means wash away sins.

Alappuzha Beach

Alappuzha Beach is a beach in Alappuzha town and a tourist attraction in Kerala, India. Beach has an old pier which extend to sea is over 150 years old.

Chottanikkara Temple

The Chottanikkara Temple is a famous temple of the Hindu mother goddess Bhagavathi. The temple is located at Chottanikkara near Ernakulam in the southern Indian state of Kerala and is one of the most popular temples in the state and in terms of temple architecture; this temple stands out to be an ultimate testmonial for the ancient vishwakarma sthapathis (wooden sculpture) in sculpting this temple along with Sabarimala.

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